Ford School is in on state history

LYNN – Ford School students witnessed history in the making during a State House visit as they watched preparations for the reinstallation of a 220-year-old time capsule.Ninety fifth-graders from the Highlands school heard Gov. Charlie Baker speak Wednesday and got ringside seats to view the pomp and ceremony surrounding the event centered on the State House cornerstone.The capsule contained silver and copper coins and state officials added modern coins and a new silver plaque in preparation for the capsule?s reburial.The Ford students watched as members of the Grand Lodge of Masons performed a ceremony, pouring corn, wine and oil onto the cornerstone, symbolizing nourishment, refreshment and joy in an old Masonic rite.Baker was introduced through cannon fire provided by the National Guard. The 19 blasts caused the trees at the top of Boston Common to violently shake.?The kids were thrilled when the cannons were set off,” said Ford fifth-grade teacher Lauren Sampson.Sampson said the students met in the State House with Lt. Gov. Karyn Polito, who Sampson praised for taking her time to answer the Lynn students? questions.?She talked to them about their futures. I thought that was very kind of her,” Sampson said.Sampson said the students learned about the cornerstone ceremony and the time capsule retrieval by reading Scholastic magazine.The capsule was first buried in 1795 by Gov. Samuel Adams and Paul Revere, 15 years after Massachusetts adopted its state constitution. At the time, Revere was the head of the state?s Freemasons.Gov. Henry Gardner and Grand Master Winslow Lewis rededicated the capsule in 1855, after adding their own items, such as coins, local newspapers, business cards of architects and an impression of the Massachusetts seal.The items added to the capsule on Wednesday include a 2015 mint set of U.S. coins and a plaque created by silversmith Steve Smithers of Ashfield.Before the ceremony, Sampson said the Ford kids watched as roughly 1,250 Masons, clad in suits, ties and aprons, marched up the hill from the Grand Masonic Lodge on Tremont Street before assembling in front of the State House.Material from State House News Service was used in this report.